A new transfer-credit agreement is in place between seven Ontario universities, but the minister in charge of post-secondary education is calling for greater inclusion.

The University Credit Transfer Consortium, announced this week, includes traditionally research-intensive schools such as the University of Toronto. Not included, in Toronto, are York University and Ryerson University.

The creation of the group followed an earlier call from Glen Murray, minister of training, colleges and universities, to increase transferability between all of the province’s 20 universities.

“We need an Ontario-wide system,” Murray reiterated in an interview, adding “I would ask that these universities get back to the table with their colleagues.”

He said he was caught off guard by the announcement and had heard from some surprised university presidents who weren’t included.

Schools have existing policies for students changing schools or taking credits elsewhere, which often require letters of permission. But the consortium has agreed to a “blanket agreement” to count first-year arts and science courses as general credits within the group.

The schools have also agreed on course equivalencies for more than 20 of the most popular courses, like first-year psychology or calculus.

The group — U of T, McMaster University, Queen’s University, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa, University of Waterloo and University of Western Ontario — came together “organically” because there was already a lot of transferring between the schools, said Cheryl Regehr, U of T’s vice-provost of academic programs.

“It’s really an extension of what we’ve been doing,” she said.

Ryerson and York officials said they aren’t concerned about not being included. “We already have countless equivalencies determined for courses,” said Ryerson registrar Keith Alnwick.

But Sarah Jayne King, Ontario chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, said many students find it extremely difficult to understand the transfer process and credits often don’t transfer over. As well, most of the involved schools are clustered in the south, she said.

“While students have been calling for better transferability,” she said, “this is definitely excluding students who need access.”

Ontario universities have until this weekend to respond to proposals on a major revamp of post-secondary education, including three-year degrees, online programs and making credits more portable between institutions.

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